MONTREAL, April 17 (UPI) -- BCE Inc., Canada's largest telephone company, confirmed Tuesday it may sell itself to a U.S. private-equity firm and three Canadian pension funds.
The Montreal company is "reviewing strategic alternatives" with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec (the Quebec Deposit and Investment Fund) and Canada's Public Sector Pension Investment Board, all of which have signed non-disclosure agreements on a non-exclusive basis, BCE said in a statement.
U.S. private-equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. has also signed a non-disclosure agreement as a minority partner, BCE said.
BCE, whose shares jumped nearly 7 percent in late-morning trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange, has a market value of about $27.5 billion.
Not mentioned in BCE's statement was the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, BCE's largest shareholder, which said in a U.S. regulatory filing last Tuesday it might be interested in increasing its 5.3 percent equity stake in BCE and possibly lead an effort to take the company private.
A Canadian Pension Plan spokesman, speaking for the consortium, said Ontario Teachers' had not been invited to participate in the talks.
